June 30, 2004

Behind the scenes at OLN

PezCycling has a look behind the scenes of the OLN Tour de France coverage, a 24-hour-a-day rolling circus of 105 that will be delivering 340 hours of Tour coverage over the next 3 weeks.

If you're a recent fan, I have to take a second here and explain how much I love OLN. In the dark days before they picked up the Tour, ESPN did 30 minutes a day, and CBS did their miserable 30 minutes to an hour on Sundays.

Here's how the ESPN show would go: First 10 minutes, standings and discussion; second ten minutes, a recap of the previous stage(s); five minutes of actual coverage of that day's stage, and a five-minute wrapup with the talking heads in the studio. The formula was inviolate: even if there was an epic breakaway, it got the requisite 5 minutes.

Comments

ToBob Roll at OLN:

We love you on the air...BUT you must stop saying Tour Day France and instead shift your prononciation just a tad to say Tour Derr (but don't actually say the RR's) Frahh-nce. It's the Day versus Derr that's making me crazy. You have done lots tougher stuff than this, Bob, you can do it!! Tour De(rr) Frahhnce. Way to go, Bob!

Posted by: Claudia C at Jul 21, 2004 9:42:14 PM

Bob- You did a "Human Interest Story" that was aired this afternoon, Thursday July 22nd. Because I missed it I had hoped it would have been repeated on the evening show. It was not on and was a great disapointment to many family members, Would it be possibsle to again use the piece and put it on again tomorrow on the evening highlights? It concerned the painting on the roads on race #16, near the finish line. Thanks Bob. What a great show and coverage of this wonderful event.

Posted by: Judi at Jul 23, 2004 1:43:50 AM

Who is the composer of the theme song for the Tour? And where can I get a coppy? Thanks

Posted by: Chris at Jul 25, 2004 12:40:46 PM

Who is the composer of the theme song for the Tour? And where can I get a copy? Thanks

Posted by: Chris at Jul 25, 2004 12:41:08 PM

Congratulations OLN for the excellent coverage Your team captured the spirit of the Tour. It was truly inspirational to get up at 5:30 am each morning to see the coverage. It is disappointing that it is over. What a treat it would be to follow these cyclists in their competitions in other races and in others countries. Bob Roll is infectious. You have shown real leadership in hiring and real depth in the presentation of various segments. We learned more about the race this year and about the difficulties of putting this broadcast together. Thank you.
It would be wonderful to see a parade of champions, each man in the race walking across the podium to be recognized by the world. That would be showing the true potential of the the medium. This would make the next years coverage more meaningful as one would have a face for each name. The coverage would be made more particular. In fact,a prerace introduction of the people talented enough to enter the race in the first place would be something that we would watch. Phill L. and Paul S. are wonderful ambassadors for sport. They are verbally interesting. However, the shirts that they were asked to wear looked a sorry sight. Bad colors that made tham look out of date when in fact they are two with it guys. Get the announcers some interesting clothes that are packed full of fun especially designed for each stage ride. Sponsor an artist/public competition to design them. They could be sold off at the end of the tour. And I'd even watch some media prizes for the behind the scenes people who made it all possible. Lets get into the fun of the race too.

Posted by: Kathy Poole at Jul 25, 2004 12:59:13 PM

OLN coverage on the tour is the best I've seen as of late.Most American broadcast stations suck with covering the tour. If they would cover the tour as they do with football, nascar, baseball and other sit on your ass sports they would see how many people WATCH THE TOUR. I wish a local net works would pick up the action. It sucks I do not have cable to watch the tour.I have to go to a sports bar like most of America to watch the tour.
Thanks for your part on covering the tour.
Cheers- Jonathan

Posted by: Jonathan at Jul 11, 2005 6:11:31 PM

Fact...having commentators wear "fun and interesting clothes" (Kathy) will not be conducive in generating a more watchable OLN. (PUHlease!)
Fact...having commentators work on their pronounciation of foriegn words will NOT be conducive in generating a more watchable OLN. Though it may allow for ol' Bob there to sound like less of an idiot everytime he reports.
Fact...American coverage of sports by and large is myopic...if there isn't Americans in the melee then it ain't worth watchin'. (I wonder how the coverage will change next year when the money generator Lance is gone?).
My suggestion is that OLN consults on each and every piece with those in the know (Phil L. etc.) - provide coverage that...well...is coverage...coverage of the Tour, not just one guy. Yes Lance is doin' some great stuff...but what about everyone else? There are a lot of fascinating stories that if covered along with perspective pieces and interviews that aren't "Gee...it looked really hard out there today..." (Uh...yeah...no shit) but talked about the ins and outs and strategies/tactics...now that would be worth watching! That would allow us to see the big picture and put everything into perspective...Hmmm...just a thought.

Posted by: the_eibs at Jul 11, 2005 6:40:03 PM

Who is the composer of the theme song for the Tour? And where can I get a copy? Thanks

Posted by: Brenton at Jul 14, 2005 4:03:09 PM

I know the bikers consume a great deal of fluid to keep hydrated. My question is - what do they do about going to the bathroom? I believe they race continually for several hours a day. Just wandering if anyone know how they deal with this common physical need.

thanks - sue

Posted by: Sue at Jul 14, 2005 8:19:08 PM

Who is the composer of the theme song for the Tour? And where can I get a copy? I know the bikers consume a great deal of fluid to keep hydrated. My question is - what do they do about going to the bathroom? I believe they race continually for several hours a day. Just wandering if anyone know how they deal with this common physical need.Thanks

Posted by: thomas at Jul 15, 2005 8:49:22 PM

Where can I get a copy of the theme/opening song for the 2005 tour?

Posted by: Me at Jul 19, 2005 11:49:59 AM

Where can I get a copy of the theme song for the 2005 tourde france?

Posted by: Gus at Jul 19, 2005 8:48:48 PM

i need a copy of the 05 tour music who does it and where can i get it thanx ivorboy!!

Posted by: ivorboy at Jul 21, 2005 7:36:49 AM

Who is the composer of the theme song for the Tour? And where can I get a copy? Is anyone getting answers to these questions, or are we just echoing each other for fun?

Posted by: Tour fan at Jul 21, 2005 12:20:17 PM

Why watch the tour DA france if Bob was not on?

Posted by: Brian at Jul 26, 2005 3:04:13 PM

Where can I get a copy of the theme song for the 2005 tourde france?

Posted by: Jay at Aug 4, 2005 6:12:24 PM

I prefer the 2004 TDF theme. Has anyone have a clue where I can find it? Much appreciated.

-Scott

Posted by: Scott at Oct 2, 2005 3:32:19 PM

you can get it right here. I just finished DL'ing Stage one, ripped the audio from the intro to the 2005 tour, and created an audio file from it. I've been looking for this for a long time as well, so I figured I might as well just make it.